Face masques are skin treatment products which produce a variety of favorable results for the user. There are two general categories of face masques: a peel-off type and a rinse-away type. Both types require that a film coating be formed to contour the face. The peel-off type is removed by physically peeling the film away from the face and the rinse-away type is removed by thorough rinsing with tap water.
The major function of most masques is to deep clean facial skin by removing dead skin cells. Masques may also improve capillary blood circulation, cleanse, retexturize, firm and moisturize as well as stimulate the skin and increase cell regeneration. Moreover, masques tone the skin as would a muscle and their employment can be considered a beneficial exercise for the face in which the indulger hopes to gain a more youthful appearance.
Most rinse-away masques contain special ingredients which can influence the masque's method of employment. "Homemade" masks prepared from household ingredients have been used long before the introduction of modern commercial cosmetic masques. Homemade masks usually employ special ingredients based upon fruit or vegetables, for example cucumber masks, strawberry masks and honey masks are not uncommon. A recipe for an apple mask claims that apples can refresh and rejuvenate the skin and suggests: "cook one peeled and cored apple in a small amount of milk, mash together and apply the mixture." Homemade masks are based upon the virtues of natural ingredients which are judged to be wholesome, healthful, safe and beneficial to the skin. Homemade masks have several disadvantages, however. They are time consuming to prepare, their effects are somewhat limited and questioned, they can vary considerably from preparation to preparation according to the expertise of the cook-formulator, and they have to be remade for each new application since they spoil if stored. Moreover, homemade masques do not have the cosmetic elegance necessary for modern cosmetic face treatment products. Today's products differ from the "old-fashioned" masques by their improved cosmetic elegance, their convenience, their attribute of "deep" cleansing and the sensuous effects which they impart to skin.
Some cosmetic face masques have been adapted from moisturizing creams. Here, heavy aqueous emulsions, laden with mineral oils, esters, triglycerides and waxy materials, are applied to the face in the form of an opaque emollient coating. As the cream remains on the face water evaporates imparting a cooling sensation to the skin. After 10 or 15 minutes the cream is rinsed off the face leaving the skin looking clean and feeling hydrated, soft and smooth.
In addition to hydrophobic ingredients, masques may contain surfactants, preservatives, fragrance, colorants and special ingredients such as botanicals which enhance therapeutic and cosmetic properties.
Clay or mud masques are also popular and based upon the absorptive nature of inorganic clays or "muds". The clay ingredients generally employed in contemporary cosmetic masks are bentonite, kaolin, montmorillonite, or mixtures thereof. They may be supported by other inorganics such as alumina and talc, and may be optionally colored earthtone with iron oxide. These materials are formulated into aesthetic products using an array of conventional ingredients such as wetting, suspending and dispersing surfactants, hydrocolloid thickeners, preservatives, fragrance, and so on.
Clay face masques permit deep cleansing of the skin due to the absorptive properties of the clay raw materials. After applying a clay masque to the face it dries and cools because of the evaporation of the aqueous vehicle. The masque contracts producing a tightening sensation on the skin, an astringency. As it dries, it hardens and the iron pigments, which produce earthtone shades, change color giving an additional visual effect. After hardening is completed, or near complete as specified by product directions, the masque is rinsed away with water. The face is left feeling relieved of constraint and totally refreshed.
Sometimes special organic ingredients are added to face masques, for example high molecular weight synthetic polymers which help film formation, or powdered egg white whose aqueous film is known to produce skin like coatings which are astringent during drying. Unless ingredients like egg white are used at high concentrations to give specific and perceptible effects their use in masque formulas is merely promotional. However, promotional ingredients do play an important role not only in masques but in all cosmetic formulas because they capture the fancy of the consumer and induce purchase of the product. After purchase and after application the inherent properties and benefits of the masque will determine if the consumer will repurchase the product.
Although the advantages of contemporary cosmetic face masques are quite demonstrable, there are a number of disadvantages associated with them as well:
Emollient masques are greasy and can stain towelling and clothing if not carefully applied.
Clay masks are messy during application and during rinse-off. They can soil bathroom appointments with heavy and colored muds.
All masques can be embarrassingly funny looking. They place the face in an artifical cast. An unnatural appearance during employment of the masque can startle if not frighten a passerby who unintentionally intrudes.
Masque employment requires patience. They dry slowly, requiring 10, 15 or more minutes before rinse-off. The prolonged time may be discomforting to the user since masques tend to harden and shrink on the face.
Masques generally are non-routine face treatments, lending themselves to use somewhat infrequently. Some masques, however, can be used several times a week but are hardly ever recommended for daily application.
Some masques do not satisfy the user's total objective. They provide limited improvement of facial skin, they may have disagreeable side-effects such as acting harshly on the skin; they may not cleanse satisfactorily, or they may not provide sufficient sensuous effect. In brief, modern cosmetic face masque technology has come a long way from old fashioned homemade masks but they have much to gain in future improvement.